Monthly Archives: January 2015

TENS, IF NOT HUNDREDS, OF MILLIONS IN BACK PAY COMING TO CBP OFFICERS In the chaotic aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. Customs Service made a lot of questionable decisions trying to boost America’s protection. That should have been a surprise … Continue reading

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FLRA UPHOLDS RETROACTIVE TRANSIT SUBSIDY AWARDS Arbitrator Suzanne R. Butler found that the Agency violated the parties’ collective-bargaining agreement by not retroactively paying qualified bargaining-unit employees’ mass-transit subsidies of up to $240 per month for the period from January 2012 … Continue reading

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JUST PLAIN UNIMAGINATIVE UNION LEADERSHIP Let’s assume that the federal government creates a new agency with tens of thousands of employees throughout the country and that agency quickly earns a reputation as a terrible employer. Obviously, unions would be deeply interested … Continue reading

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FLRA’S WORKLOAD BARGAINING SOLUTION: HUMAN TRAFFICKING What would you call it if someone had the power to force you to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week until you fell over dead from exhaustion? What if they also … Continue reading

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SHOULD RETIREES SERVE ON UNION EXECUTIVE BOARDS? Here is a provision from the current Constitution of a federal employee union we hold in high regard: “A National and Regional officer who retires from the Federal government before their term of … Continue reading

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CAN THE AGENCY REQUIRE YOU WORK WHILE ON FMLA? It looks like management can ask you to perform certain tasks while on FMLA leave.  We are not experts in this area, but we just saw a very good article pulling … Continue reading

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MSPB CHANGES “FALSIFICATION” PROOF ELEMENTS, BUT GROVELS TO AGENCIES In a recent case, DHS tried to fire an employee for misrepresentation, which MSPB considers to be the same as falsifying, lying or defrauding.  The employee, on detail to a different … Continue reading

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WHAT SHOULD THIS EMPLOYEE’S PENALTY BE? The employee in this not-so-hypothetical story has been with TSA for just over a year working as a Financial Specialist.  Prior to that, he had 22 years in the military. On the day in … Continue reading

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BIG YEAR AHEAD FOR NTEU NTEU has a very big year ahead of it.  It could be about to elect a new national president, its largest unit (IRS) will continue to get pummeled by Congressman Issa and others as part … Continue reading

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CRITICIZING UNIONS Almost every time we write about a union in anything other than glowing terms we hear from a few folks, not many at all, that we should avoid criticizing unions in public, that union flaws should be kept … Continue reading

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